Our Lights
by gotbitfeverhit
Summary: "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." - Albus Dumbledore. The patronuses of various Next Generation characters and just what memories they recall to perform the charm.


**A/N: So as I was developing my headcanon NextGens, I thought about their respective patronuses. Share your own ideas! I'd love to hear them. Hope you enjoy~**

Chapter One: Victoire Weasley

Wand clutched nervously between her fingers, the words of her instructor repeated themself endlessly in Victoire's mind. Happy thoughts, she focused on. Not just a pleasant thought - a memory; the kind of memory that sends birds fluttering about your body. A thought that you cannot recall without a smile appearing upon your face. One that makes you feel genuine happiness, even in the darkest of rooms.

What did Victoire associate with happiness? Its definition, of course, but she tried to shake the logical answers out of her head. What never failed to make her smile? Had been there during her finest hours? Or perhaps, who?

Now, that she knew the answer to. But she didn't quite want to know that answer. It was a sort of thought she'd prefer to lock away in a high up cupboard and leave the key on the other side of the planet with Uncle Charlie's dragons. It was the sort of thought, or collection of memories, she most often forbode herself. With a small sigh and a mental shake of her head, she moved on. But the muscles beside her mouth began to ache. Smiling. She'd been smiling.

Absolutely absurd, she convinced herself. Teddy Lupin was not going to be her happiest thought, surely.

Yet as the minutes wore by, she could think of nothing better and more happy than the idiotic grin he so often displayed. It was becoming infectious, even.

'Victoire!' A voice pulled her out of her thoughts and back into reality. Her professor stood before her, hands clasped together and a proud smile upon his lips. 'It looks as though you've got it. Hold onto that thought! It may well be the one. Keep trying, everyone!'

As he turned away, Victoire's hand reached up to her face to smooth the wrinkles between her brow. Who'd think recalling happy memories would be so stressful? But if Teddy Lupin was what was going to prevent a dementor attack, perhaps it was worth the try. Poised back into position, Victoire held her wand at arms length and focused on that smile - that stupid, goofy grin that told Victoire he'd gotten one over on her yet again.

Expecto... Expecto Pa...

'Expecto Patronum!'

The students closest to her gasped. Victoire gulped, eyes following the short silver mist that fizzled out of her wand and travelled a few inches before disappearing. It had worked. Wide eyes stared at her, a few heads cocked to the side plus one or two rather envious housemates.

'How'd you do that, Victoire?' the boy closest to her, a stout Slytherin with a puzzled expression, enquired.

Victoire shugged, a shoot of confidence bubbling up inside her. 'Just think of something happy. It's easy.'

But it hadn't been enough. She got back into position, clearing her throat. Once, twice more the silver mist travelled barely an inch further than before. Was another person's smile not good enough for her? Was she concentrating too hard, perhaps?

Wracking her mind for a new box of memories, she trifled through the assortment of Older-Hufflepuff related moments. Winters spent at the burrow; summers spent at the cottage; warm woolly jumpers and neon blue hair. One stood out to her - amongst the copious stack of joy inducing moments and she couldn't pick out quite why. It was worth a try, though.

It was summer - but not the kind of summer filled with blistering heat and melting ice cream. This was a true English summer of a dull grey sky and bitter wind whipping through their hair. She stood beside him - tall for her age, yet so petite and frail next to his lanky frame. Even in the unpleasant weather, Victoire would have chosen to be out here than to be in there with the rest of her family. She leaned against the walls of the cottage, eyes closed lightly, breathing in the fresh purity of the air.

Teddy's hair was its most common vibrsnt blue - pressed up in some sort of stylish quiff. Whether it was truly stylish or a mere belief of her heart that he could do not wrong, she didn't care. Her eyes flickered open, drifting towards the sight she found most beautiful in the world. Pale skin, button nose, oddly coloured hair and ghostly grey eyes; this was her Teddy Lupin.

'Are you cold?' he asked, without even glancing his eyes towards her. They were both wearing jumpers - the custom Weasley jumpers, although the sound of it felt a little weird. A large E was etched upon his red wool in sky blue; hers a purple V upon turquoise. Somehow, as she dug her hands further into the over-large sleeves, Victoire felt more and more connected to him. 'You can wear my jumper too, if you like.'

Victoire smiled, foot scraping against the pebbles on the ground to which her gaze drifted. 'Don't be an idiot, Ted. Then you'll be cold.'

'Nah,' he disagreed, smirking. 'I don't feel the cold, don't be daft. I'm a strong man!'

She looked up at the sixteen year old and jabbed him lightly in the ribs. 'You're even skinnier than Louis. Skinnier than the turkeys my mum cooks at Christmas.'

A small chuckle arose from Teddy as he lifted his head up to the sky, as though recalling a recent memory. 'Billius, have you sabotaged my dinner again?'

'No darling, I'm afraid you simply cannot cook!'

The two collapsed into shared laughter, together remembering something that possibly only they could find quite so amusing. In that moment, his deep chuckles filled her ears and drowned out the entire world outside of them. Nothing could have drawn her out of the moment the pair were sharing; even if it was just for a mere few minutes, no exams or plagued thoughts could beat the presence of him and his ridiculous hair beside her. As he laughed, his hair ranged colours from yellow to green to purple - a habit he still found difficult to control, as every bout of laughter turned his tangle of hair into a new colour.

Eventually it ended, as all of the best moments do. But Victoire was still left with the ghost of a smile masking her heart as they leaned back against the wall, both sets of eyes staring up at the sky for a length of time she couldn't count. As the familiar voice of her mother calling them inside drifted out to them, she returned her gaze down to find Teddy staring at her, face blank and distracted.

The Ravenclaw found herself being pulled back into the present day, more gasps and gaping mouths than the last time she had awoken from her daydreams. She blinked and followed the small crowd's eyes, to find her own widening at what she found. Swimming out from her wand was the silver, misty figure of a cat. It leapt across the room, causing onlookers to shuffle away in an attempt to leave the figure a pathway.

"My oh my," the professor made his way towards her as the cat evaporated into a wisp of smoke, disappearing in the distance. He grinned at her, the odd ruffles on his dusty wizard's hat shaking happily. "A bombay cat, Miss Weasley. Ten points to Ravenclaw."


End file.
